Made par. Made a straight drive about 260 down the left-middle of this slight dogleg left to set myself up well for a near-green approach. With 270 yards left I pulled a 19* hybrid and fired a slight fade (that was intended to go straight) but really caught the ball and landed 180 to carry 220. Near miss on a near-green bunker. Made for an easy lob over a bunker onto 18ft putt. 2 putt gives me par. Great start.

Lost: Wouldn't expect to ever make a 18ft putt for birdie but it would be nice some time.

Gained: Solid off the tee and with fairway hybrid gets me close enough to let the short game take hold.

Hole 2: 361 Par 4 - 4 - GIR

Mostly straight fairway with water guarding the left side of fairway and green. Drive is long in the fairway and a pitching wedge puts me at 5 ft for birdie. I 2 putt for par.

Run of the mill par 3 with water on the left. The second hybrid swing of the day proves fatal and I top the ball sending it rolling forward just even with the forward tees. Nice! A 9 iron gets me on the green from there for a 2 putt and bogey.

Lost: Topped off the teebox.

Gained: Didn't lose composure, laughed it off and only lost a stroke on the hole.

Hole 4: 400 Par 4 - 5

A fade shows up and my drive is well struck but fades right, hitting fairway but rolling into a fairway bunker. There are two on either side of this fairway at the same approx distance of 235-240. I tried to not hit it too hard but ended up putting a fade on it instead. I make a well struck sand save with a 7 iron leaving the ball 10 yds from the green. I get up and two putt for bogey.

Lost: Got into the fairway bunker. Don't be afraid to manage the course. Should've used a 3 wood to avoid chance of the sand and had an easy approach from the fairway.

Gained: Good strike out of the fairway bunker.

Hole 5: 449 Par 4 - 5

Run of the mill bogey. Took three to get on the green after missing the approach left. Got LUCKY to get away with bogey on this one. A good drive led to a 6 iron approach to a forward placed flagstick. I set up for a slight fade, but pulled the shot instead. It very well could've rolled 30 yards left but hit a tree and bounced back to set me up with a 20yd chip from some questionable dirt. Chip successful and a 2 put lets me walk away with bogey.

Lost: Terrible approach

Gained: Recovered and was helped tremendously by a well placed tree, got away with bogey (I like bogeys)

Lesson: Sometimes trees are there to help you

Hole 6: 174 Par 3 - 5

Pulled a 6 iron again left. No forgiveness on this par 3 as there is a lot of water. Tee shot intended for right side of green, hit left fringe instead, and rolls down a steep decline into the bath. Hit 4 out of the drop zone and sink 5 for double bogey.

Lost: Tee shot

Gained: At least it wasn't a 6.

Lesson: Don't mind the water.

Hole 7: 535 Par 5 - 6

I am not happy with losing 4 strokes on the two par 3's out, so I decide to err on the side of risk on this slight dogleg right guarded by a long lake on the right side of the fairway. My drive fades slightly to the right side of the fairway and gives me a decent look through the trees straight to the green. I pull a 25* hybrid and try to get through. I hit some branches and come up short of the green. No big deal at least it didn't knock into the water. I am in some questionable terrain near the lake under the trees about 30 yds off the green. For my third swing I pull a gap wedge and give it a go. The questionable terrain seems to have grabbed and twisted my club as the shot is a little fat and ends up near a sand trap. A quick up over the sand and a two putt lets me walk away with bogey.

Hole 8: 423 Par 4 - 4

Standard straight fairway, GIR, two putt. Good to get confidence back after a string of gaining strokes.

46 out and 41 back in makes an 87 from the blues (usually black back but played with a group of friends).

Windrose Golf Club - Spring, Texas

Found more consistency in following a couple drills about "swaying" and head movement on Friday. Hate to say that an hour on the range doing a couple drills helped but I think it might have. Pulled ZERO 5-8 irons today which is the idea. ****in right doggie.

87 does not give my play justice today as I must have missed 8 birdie putts within 10 feet. My putting today was less than stellar as I had plenty of GIR's and looks at birdies but did not execute on a single one of them.

All in all the driver and long irons were great. Hit 11 fairways and a fairway bunker (that I would put onto the green) today, couldn't miss. Buddy gave me a sleeve of company ProV1's and they're all back in the sleeve safe in my bag after the round. Course is pretty wide so that helps.

Putting costed me the most strokes by far and I need a major adjustment.

I need to continue to work on removing "sway" from my swing and work on putting. This is the first time I've broken 90 strongly in a long time as my last eight rounds have ALL ended 89-92. This 87 is probably due to an easier course and playing the blue tees instead of gold/blacks but I'll take it!

Also -- I'm rereading my play by play up there in the first post and that's quite impressive. They should probably remove the espresso machine from my office.

Panther Trails at Canongate woodlands tx
Played from the tips because that's where my partner was playing (he was +4)

Blacks - 73.6/130

Shot a +8 for a cool 44. Lost a stroke from a thin 6 iron and a duffed 3 wood from fairway. Trying to hit too hard to make up for longer course. Short game was magic. Overall a great round for me and found a new weekday golfing buddy.

Shot 91 from the tips yesterday after work. Was planning on teeing it forward but got partnered with a guy playing from the tips. We were stuck behind a group of hardcore duffers so we had time to play split tees but I decided not to.

Driver was solid as I lost no balls off the tee. Three mishits include a topped rescue club from the fairway and a 9 iron off the toe from very deep rough. In addition to a gap wedge. Lost most of my strokes on putting par from 4-8 feet. Also lost a few strokes on long par 5's where I made the decision to lay up. It's obvious that I need to work on putting as sinking half of these 5-8 footers would have resulted in saving at least 6 strokes. 85 would have been a great score for me on this 73.6/130 7,044yd course. I lost a ball on the 18th island green from 115 where I mishit (3rd mishit) a gap wedge that sailed right into the drink. I dropped from my position for my fifth stroke and I put it ~18 ft from the hole on top of the back plateau. Sunk the putt for a great double bogey save and gave the clubhouse a Tiger fist pump.

Will be reading some putting articles and work on following through with my hands on my putts toward my target.

Cart path only day wet conditions but playable. Shot 40-46 on a 6606yd 71.5/125. 40 on the front was probably my best all time 9, recorded pars and just four bogeys (none of which were ugly, just dumb missed par putts from 2-10 ft). If I could have played this round to an 80 I would've been the happiest golfer in the world!

Very happy with ball striking, fairways hit (didn't lose or have to "search" for any balls off the tee). Iron and hybrid play was fantastic, wedges were great despite the wet conditions. Overall an awesome front 9 and a 40 that I am proud of. Driving distance was dismal as I get a lot of my distance out of roll playing a pull-fade. Drives were anywhere from 180-240 today which was okay because I played them to the course. Had a few good looks at birdie on the front.

The back 9 I lost steam. After a long day at work,18 might have been too much. But after shooting the best 9 of my life, why would I stop before finishing the round??

I double bogied every par 4 on the back 9. With pars and bogeys scattered throughout. Overall a very ugly back 9 with a lost ball (blocked a hybrid shot from a steep hill side) and a recovered ball from a water hazard. Was scrambling to save par with 10+ft putts that wouldn't sink. Really ran out of steam.

Conclusion is that I still can't friggin putt the ball for an entire 18. And I need to practice hitting long balls from different elevations (below and above feet).

Shot 42-43 for 85. Happy with the performance but struggled a bit with wet conditions. Struggled with putting as has been the case lately. Missed several looks at birdie and failed to save par a few times with easy 2-4 foot rolls. Need to really work on getting a consistent putting stroke and reading greens.

Speed was consistent. I have been following through with my hands and been getting closer to my target. Misses have been the results of a good line read followed by a good distance on the putting stroke, but a slight push or pull off the face. Need to work on keeping the face of the putter SQUARE to my line through the putting stroke. Left several putts 1-2" on either side of the hole because of this little problem.

Pulled a 6 iron again left. No forgiveness on this par 3 as there is a lot of water. Tee shot intended for right side of green, hit left fringe instead, and rolls down a steep decline into the bath. Hit 4 out of the drop zone and sink 5 for double bogey.

That should've been dropping 2 and hitting 3, which means I putt 4 for only a bogey. Thanks for catching that!! Wrote the long review in a coffee-fueled splendor. Guess I got a little careless. Now I'm going to go fix my scorecard and pat myself on the back

That should've been dropping 2 and hitting 3, which means I putt 4 for only a bogey. Thanks for catching that!! Wrote the long review in a coffee-fueled splendor. Guess I got a little careless. Now I'm going to go fix my scorecard and pat myself on the back

Edit: thanks for reading.

There ya go! Now you can be less disappointed in your par 3 performance. Haha.

There ya go! Now you can be less disappointed in your par 3 performance. Haha.

It's a tough little hole. Dead straight may roll over the green to a steep back. A fade puts you in the sand chipping out over two tiered green. Short of the green or a strong draw rolls you into the drink.

The second cut on the hill around the green is usually very short. Anything running down the left side (from the teebox perspective) runs quick into the water. Green is two-tiered right down the middle. Front hill is not very forgiving either. I always take aim at the front middle of the green regardless of where the flag is. Just want to be on the dance floor (even if I can barely hear the music).

Moved my ball up 1" in my stance for my driver. Was not getting any spin/roll out on drives. 200-230 yard drives were dropping and sticking to the fairway. A single digit I play with (dear old dad!) pointed out to me that maybe my driver's angle of approach was downward. Suggested moving up my ball an inch or two.

Yesterday at the range I hit some nasty far (for myself) drives that didn't deviate from my little pull-fade. Got a ton of roll out of them. I'd estimate that it added 20-30 yards to the drive but it's hard to tell because it's a driving range. I actually stood back in awe pretending that I hit it like that all the time. Remarkably the ball flight was lower too. Instead of a balloon effect I saw the ball take off low and lift up to peak before coming down softly with a nice roll. Can't wait to see if I can convert the adjustment for my next round. Very excited.

Iron play is improving. Focused on keeping head still and eyes looking straight at the ball. Not looking down at the ball. Hit 50 or so balls with a 7i and had a few fat/thin but for the most part distance and trajectory were consistent. Fought a pull for a few shots but it corrected itself when I got into the swing of things.

And holy damn was it hot. Every person there including myself was wearing a big straw hat (maybe because it's Texas).

43 on 9 yesterday. Played good par golf but had several 3 putts and a 4 putt. Really need to get my putting stroke together. Maybe constantly posting about it will encourage me to do so.

Played good par golf on the par 5's. Nothing spectacular - just a good drive, straight hybrid, sand wedge, and two putts. Feels good to play it like that rather than scrambling. Par 4's were okay but struggled with the greens and putting at times.

Had a really ugly par on one of the par 4's - drive took a bounce off a hill and jetted to the right. Tried to make a hero shot with an 8 iron push fade out of the rough around a tree. It was just a push instead. My pitching wedge landed short of the green on the fringe about 15 ft from the flag. Chipped in for par. Whooop!!

41-43 makes a career round 84 beating my best of 85 a few weeks ago or so. I have been shooting a lot of scores in the 86-88 range. So this is a nice round for me. Conditions were cart path only.

Lowlights

Was +2 on the front up until number 8, an easy par 4 that calls for a fade off the tee to catch a bounce off the back of a bunker-hill and leave a shot to an elevated green for an up and down birdie.

My first tee ball faded too much. My second tee shot also faded too much. My third shot (and 5th stroke) was just right. Got up and down with a sand wedge and a putter. Prettiest triple bogey you've ever seen. Stayed even through 9 to net a 41 which is good for me-- though it could've been much better.

Par 3 my tee shot looked good as it was on the fringe. Got closer and it was lodged deep in between the first and second cuts. Tried to take a chop at it and it moved forward about a yard. 2 putted for bogey. Not disastrous but was unfair punishment.

18th hole my par putt took a jump from an aeration punch. Leaped off course inches from the hole (it actually got air) and rested an inch off course. Tapped in bogey with a smirk because I knew I had still beaten my previous best of 85.

Highlights

Pre shot routine!!! I've developed a shot routine. Heard or read it somewhere and how it is important. Followed it on the range and saw more consistency in my shots. Translated to the course.

Scoring irons had been drawing and I don't like it. Have worked a few things out with the right arm and they are now high with a baby fade again.

Birdied 16 Par 5 and 17 Par 3 back to back.

Have been adamant about trying to get putting down. Got a pre-putt routine and new stance that I'm very comfortable with. Have been following through with my hands to my TARGET, NOT THE HOLE. The TARGET LINE and the HOLE are DIFFERENT. Now I understand this. I had been having a problem where I line up my putt for my target line, but in my follow through I instinctively push or pull my hands towards the hole. Three birdies on the day proves it worked for me (I average <1 birdie/round).